


My Double

by JRanger_Raven



Category: Ranger's Apprentice - John Flanagan
Genre: Humor, Oneshot, faking identities, sick halt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-25
Updated: 2015-09-25
Packaged: 2018-04-23 06:50:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,232
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4867208
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JRanger_Raven/pseuds/JRanger_Raven
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Well, then, what do I tell him?" Will asked. "It's not like I can say 'Oh, yeah, Halt's fine he just doesn't feel like coming. He'd rather be away drinking coffee in the comfort of his cabin'."<br/>"Of course not. That's why… you're going to pretend to be me."</p>
            </blockquote>





	My Double

**Author's Note:**

> Credit for this idea goes to hawk-windrider on Tumblr. They suggested it to me and people seemed to like it so I decided I'd publish it here too.

Something was up with Halt. It wasn't like there was an imposture... or he was about to die... but something was different. Will had been his apprentice for three years now; he noticed these things. He knew Halt inside and out, and sometimes he could guess what he was going to say before he said it. And something was definitely different today.  
It started out like any other day: early rise, running, breakfast, tracking, archery... and during archery, that's when he first started noticing the signs. Halt would pause before continuing his sentence, or take a breath before talking. Not that that was bad, but it certainly wasn't Halt-like. He rarely hesitated.

"I have a meeting with King Duncan today," Halt said, during Will's archery training. He was hitting the center every time, like always. "He sent me a letter yesterday," he paused, to take a short breath, "to request my opinion on a matter."

"What matter?" Will asked, lowering his bow for just a minute. He spun around to look at him.

"I don't know," Halt said. "Maybe he thought it'd be," he paused again, "dangerous to tell me in the letter. There's a chance it could get intercepted... it'd be dangerous to tell me there."

"You... said that."

Will almost regretted saying that. But there was definitely something up with his mentor, and he didn't like it. Halt froze, admitting defeat.

"Halt," Will began, "are you okay?" He walked over, concerned. "You seem... off today."

"I'm fine," he insisted.

Will sighed. Stubborn as ever. "No, you're not." He reached over and, before Halt could stop him, pressed a hand to his forehead. "You're burning! Halt, you're sick."

"I'm not."

"Yes, you are." Will was certain of it now. He pushed Halt's shoulder with that same hand, and, involuntarily, Halt stumbled back. Will received a glare in response.

"Don't touch me," Halt snapped. He walked around Will to get away. "Fine," he mumbled, as he walked to the cabin. "Maybe I am sick. But it's just a fever, nothing more. I can handle it."

"Are you sure?" Will watched him walk away. "You look like you're about to collapse..." Halt reached the door of the cabin, and took hold of the doorknob. But suddenly his knees started to get weak... and his head began to spin. He couldn't hold himself up anymore, and crumpled to the ground.

Will gasped. "Halt!" he exclaimed. From the stables, he heard Alebard give an alarmed whinny. The apprentice dashed over to Halt, and knelt down to find him limp, but still breathing. His cheeks were bright red. He was sweating, but he was shivering. "Halt, are you okay?" he whispered.

"It's cold..." Halt mumbled. He was barely conscious.

So Will took him inside- Halt was surprisingly light, and laid him on his bed. This was at least a fever, he figured, but Will hadn't had a fever since he was a kid. Well, more of a kid. He remembered, though, when he was sick, Alyss told him to rest and she and Jenny gave him plenty of water and food. That seemed like the best option.  
When Will returned to Halt’s room with water, he was more awake than he was when he collapsed. “Will…” he whispered. “It’s really hot… And cold… At the same time…”

“Sorry,” he said, not knowing what else to say. He handed the glass of water to his mentor. “Here, drink some water. That’ll help.” Halt nodded, and pressed his lips weakly to the edge of the glass. After a few sips, he seemed to be more awake.

“I’ll make some food,” Will told him. “And you’re not getting up for the rest of the day.”

“But-”

“No buts.”

Even while he was sick and barely awake, Halt could still give a scary glare. “You don’t have the authority to order me around,” he said. “I’m your mentor.”

“Yes, but-”

“No buts.” Halt sighed, and took another deep breath to talk. “I have a meeting with Duncan today…”

Will had almost forgotten about that. “Oh, yeah. It’s safe to say you can’t go to that-”

“Then you go for me.”

That actually wasn’t the worst idea. Will nodded in agreement. “Okay,” he said. “I will. I’ll just tell him you weren’t feeling well.”

“No.” Halt shook his head furiously. “Don’t tell him that. He’ll worry too much and come over here, and abandon his kingly duties. I know him; he cares too much. If something bad is going on, then they’ll strike when he’s away.”

“Well, then, what do I tell him?” Will asked. “It’s not like I can say ‘Oh, yeah, Halt’s fine he just doesn’t feel like coming. He’d rather be away drinking coffee in the comfort of his cabin’.”

“Of course not. That’s why… you’re going to pretend to be me.”

Will’s eyes widened to twice their size. “W-What?!” he gasped.

“It makes perfect sense.” He seemed so sure of himself.

“No it doesn’t!”

“Yes it does,” Halt insisted. He tried to sit up, but then quickly realized he wasn’t strong enough and lay back down again. “You know me well; so well it’s almost scary. You know my speech patterns, and I bet you could fake my voice if you really tried. With some dirt and hair dye you could look like me from a distance, and you’re my same height anyway. You could pull it off it you committed to it. Also… there’s times where you need to fake the identity of someone else. I’ve had to do it several times. This is good practice. Consider it part of your training.” Halt was starting straight into Will’s eyes. He was dead serious.

Will swallowed. “H-Halt…” Secretly, he knew there was no way out of this. When Halt settled on something, there was no possible way that he would budge from that decision. It would save Will time and effort if he just gave in. So he sighed, and admitted defeat.

Two hours later, with his hair dyed black- and cut with a saxe knife as closely as he could to Halt’s hairstyle, he rode on Alebard to Duncan’s castle. Alebard was somewhat used to him, so reluctantly he had let Will ride him. The jealous looks he got from Tug were kind of amusing, though.

As he rode into Araluen, he quietly practiced Halt’s voice. Will cleared his throat. “H... He, Hello.” He coughed again, and lowered his voice. “Hello.” Too low. A little bit higher, he tried again. “Hello, King Duncan. Hello, Duncan.” Right on. “What did you call me here for? Hello, hello.” Perfect. He had it down now. He also tried the best he could to ignore the weird looks he got from people as he passed by, practicing his voice.

Will walked into the conference room like Halt would’ve done, without a warning or a knock. It was like his second home, anyway. “Hello, Duncan,” he said to the king standing on the other side of the room. “What did you call me here to discuss?”

Duncan turned around from the map he was staring at and smiled. “Hello, Halt. Good afternoon.” He gestured him over. “I’m sorry if this causes you problems, but…”  
Will- or, Halt, shook his head and walked over. “It’s my job,” he said. Good. Stage one passed. Duncan didn’t bother to look at him closely as he walked to his side. A few generals and servants were in the same room, but, luckily, no Horace. That would’ve caused a real problem; Horace had known Will long enough to recognize him, even with black hair and dirt stuck to his chin. Duncan, on the other hand, hadn’t. But he dismissed the generals from the room anyway, and they were alone.

“Recently,” the king began, “the townsfolk on the east side of Araluen have been spotting strange happenings.”

“Strange happenings?” Will repeated.

“Yes. Things are going missing, people are acting weird… and recently a person has gone missing. Now, this isn’t rare; these things have happened before. The odd thing is, I’ve sent men out to ask the people what’s happening, and only a few don’t deny everything.”

Will raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?” he asked.

“Well,” Duncan explained, “it’s like they’re trying not to look suspicious. They’re trying very hard not to, and it makes them look suspicious. There have been many reports of things going missing, but they try to hide it from the court.” He glanced to the side at Will. “Why would the people of Araluen try to hide something from the king of Araluen?”  
Will didn’t meet his gaze. There was a chance that if he did, Duncan might figure out what he was hiding. Will’s eyes and Halt’s eyes, though essentially the same color, were very different. But now this… this was an interesting question. Why would the people of Araluen try to hide something from the king of Araluen? Will thought. He was starting to worry. Halt would know the answer to that question. Or he’d have a smart suggestion. Me, on the other hand… I’ve only been training with him for three years. That’s nothing. He held in a sigh, and gave the best answer he could.

“It-” he caught quickly that he sounded like himself, and reminded himself he had to sound like Halt. “It doesn’t seem like the start of something dangerous,” Will said, correcting his tone. “You say it’s the east side?”

“Yes.”

“It sounds like, for lack of a better word, they’re embarrassed about something, or don’t want you to find out about a secret they’re hiding. If it’s only a side of the kingdom, and they don’t feel it’s any harm to hide it, then it may be a fugitive, or some other kind of small disturbance.” Will couldn’t resist meeting his gaze at that time. “They may be dealing with it right now. You said only a few aren’t denying these strange things?”

“Yes,” Duncan said, again.

“Then talk to those few. Don’t overwhelm them, or seem dangerous. They will tell you, I bet, if they know you are on their side. If the east is dealing with it, then let them. Only intervene when things get out of hand, and keep a watchful eye over that part until then. We don’t want them to feel trapped, or like they’re not free… but making them feel too free will spark a revolution of you’re not careful.” Will wasn’t even trying anymore. He had the pattern of speech down, and he was really in the mindset of Halt. He imagined himself as a full-fledged ranger, just like Halt… helping the king, being an important adviser, being trusted… it sounded so good. His heart swelled at the thought.

Slowly, a smile grew on Duncan’s lips. “You sound different, Halt,” he said. He was grinning now. “Almost like Will, actually.”

Will’s blood rushed cold. He had forgotten Halt’s voice tone.

Duncan burst out in hearty laughter. His face quickly turned red from it. Will’s face was red, too… but for a different reason.

“Y-Y-You,” the king stuttered, gasping for air, “Will… did Halt tell you to do this?”

“Y-Yes.”

Duncan was trying to stop laughing. He really was. But just the idea of Will pretending to be Halt was absolutely hysterical.

Will came out with the real reason for this. “H-He’s not feeling well,” he explained. “He didn’t want you to worry, so he told me to fake his identity. He said it’d be good practice in the future…” His sentence faded into silence as he kept talking. “He said you care too much.”

Duncan was quieter now, finally. “I see, I see,” he chuckled. “Okay… I won’t tell him you failed.”

“Good. I will.” Will sighed. “I wouldn’t be able to lie to him. I don’t think it’s physically possible for me to.”

That made the king smile. He looked back to the map. “Well,” he continued, “I do like your advice. I think I’m just being paranoid, and I’ll gather up one or two people and find out what’s happening. If the east can handle it on their own, I’ll let them.”

“Good.” Will was proud of his advice, at least. “I’m glad I helped.”

“That’s all, you can go if you’d like.” So Will bowed, and started towards the door. But then Duncan called him back. “Oh, and, Will?” The young apprentice turned around curiously.

Duncan said, “Tell Halt to get well soon, or else I’ll start caring too much and come and see him.”

Will laughed. “I’m sure that threat will scare him into getting well, thank you.” Then he opened the door, and walked out.

 

Turns out there was a fugitive in the east, like Will had guessed. The fugitive, named Brock, had family and friends there, and they were hiding him. The east cared for him and kept his secret, but was worried that they would look bad if their secret got out. Brock’s family gave him up a week later, and everything there returned to normal. Will reported back to Halt saying that he’d failed, but Halt didn’t seem too angry. Probably because of his sickness (which, luckily, was just a bad fever). With his report, Will also delivered Duncan’s threat, which seemed to have a big impact on the mentor; the fever went away two days later.


End file.
